RJ interview on CNBC - May 8, 2024

[electruck]

I'm not a CEO and have no idea how to handle the press, but I feel like the correct answer to "would you ever share part of the software stack with a partner" was to answer "we already do, we have the Alexa assistant in the vehicles that allows you to control various features"

No. I think you misunderstood the question and perhaps may not understand the fundamental differences between Alexa integration (supplementing Rivian's UX) and CarPlay 2.0 integration (defining and providing the UX).

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[chanuvarma]

Apple being involved with Rivian in any way is a good thing.

Definitely and I am coming from the Same background and based on the last question in the above video to RJ, I see he might be open to Apple Carplay kind of Integration in the future, I may be thinking the partnership would be more on the platform side.

 

[indy360]

I think all of this Apple talk is too much of a distraction. I can't imagine any partnership between them outside of a superficial level that would improve Rivian as a company. Any deep partnership with Apple would mean a deep integration with the Apple ecosystem, but any deep integration with one specific ecosystem is inherently exclusionary. I don't thing Rivian is at a stage where it could afford to exclude any potential customers, and putting all your eggs into the Apple ecosystem mean giving up control to a third party. It would be a bad decision overall.

 

[Batman]

I really hope that this doesn't happen. Anything is possible.

I wouldn't mind Rivian booting out Alexa for Siri, though.

Siri is terrible. Alexa I would say is slightly better.....

 

[itselectric]

Siri is terrible. Alexa I would say is slightly better.....

Oh, really? I use Google and Windows products primarily and would love to have Google Voice assistant instead of either. Figured that's a reach.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Siri is terrible. Alexa I would say is slightly better.....

Unlikely. Siri development never stopped. Meanwhile, Amazon has scaled back Alexa development significantly, due to lack of positive results.

Alexa was primarily created to serve as a sales/shopping tool, so you buy more stuff from Amazon. All other virtual assistants had a broader primary mission.

 

[Noplacelikeloam]

RJ's words were carefully chosen in his reply. He didn't speak of what value Apple can bring. Rather he spoke of what value the Rivian vertically integrated stack has . . . to others. Interesting.

 

[pricedm]

...
In this very same CNBC interview, what word did RJ use to describe our access to the Tesla Supercharger? Partnership. Did Tesla buy any Rivian stock or own any part of Rivian in the process? No.

Exactly!

 

[voxel]

Oh, really? I use Google and Windows products primarily and would love to have Google Voice assistant instead of either. Figured that's a reach.

I'd rank it

Google Voice
Tesla voice control
Siri....

random trash...
...
my butthole
...

Alexa

 

[prism7118]

The charge port is on the passenger side and is not powered!!

 

[ThatOneGuy]

The charge port is on the passenger side and is not powered!!

This is a very old picture from the ~2018 announcement.

 

[prism7118]

This is a very old picture from the ~2018 announcement.

Oh dang, my bad.

 

[Robin]

There is a WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE that states something like "when Apple comes calling" The essence of the article is that if you are a small company and you have a good idea, than you will lose all you employees for Apple buys them out and suddenly your new idea is a Apple product. The heart rate monitor on their watch is an example and is in the courts. I can see the Rivian info system being an Apple product and than all the Android folks will need to switch for full use of the system. Will Apple and Google control the world? Apple working with Rivian scares me. Can you imagine a RIS with a apple logo? Kind of lame...

Scary 🫣

 

[Robin]

I'm not a fan of Apple, but I also don't think it is a "bad" company compared to many others out there. That said, I would much rather see Rivian go all in with Amazon than Apple, although Amazon isn't really a consumer products company.

As always the truth is probably somewhere in between the following (thinking just to the right of the watch):

<- Apple watch unlocks Rivian--------Apple Carplay in the Stack-----------Apple logo on the hood/Apply EV-->

‍ Nope

 

[virgnia_rivian]

There is a WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE that states something like "when Apple comes calling" The essence of the article is that if you are a small company and you have a good idea, than you will lose all you employees for Apple buys them out and suddenly your new idea is a Apple product. The heart rate monitor on their watch is an example and is in the courts. I can see the Rivian info system being an Apple product and than all the Android folks will need to switch for full use of the system. Will Apple and Google control the world? Apple working with Rivian scares me. Can you imagine a RIS with a apple logo? Kind of lame...

Small correction, are you referring to the Apple Watch blood oxygen sensor lawsuit? This is not the heart rate monitor. Apple has now removed the O2 sensor on newer Apple Watches because of this court battle.

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